Coaching for Pizza: Three Days of COVID-19 Induced House Arrest

Wed.-Fri., January 3-5, 2024

Three more fun filled days in lockdown at Casa Contreras were both inevitable and mandatory after my COVID-19 positive test on Monday.

Laurie has been a wonderful patient nurse and remains COVID-19 negative, which is indeed good news.

Since I could not leave the house, I spent a lot of time on the internet which was chock full of all sorts of news about the current state of college football.

Much of it, of course, about the

14-0, #2 ranked, PAC-12 Champion

Washington Huskies

That about sums it up

The Huskies will be playing against the 14-0, #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines on Monday night in Houston, Texas with the National Championship on the line.

For the PAC-12, as a conference, this

season has been an AWESOME last ride

It got me thinking about some of the great moments in my personal Huskies memories.

The first time the Huskies, in white,

caught my eye was during the

1960 Rose Bowl

The #8 ranked, AAWU Champion Dawgs were underdogs that day (sound familiar?) to #6 ranked, Big-10 Champion Wisconsin but throttled the Badgers, 44-8!

UW Head Coach Jim Owens being

carried off the field after the win

over the Wisconsin eleven

The Huskies returned to play

in the 1961 Rose Bowl

The #6 ranked, AAWU Champion Washington squad was again the underdogs, this time to the #1 ranked, Big-10 Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers.

It was closer this time but the result was the same as the Huskies upset the Golden Gophers, 17-7.

By the way, the AAWU was the acronym for the Athletic Association of Western Universities.

In 1959, the old Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) broke up over serious recruiting scandals. At that time there were nine PCC universities, California, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State. Montana had also been a PCC member from 1924-50.

The PCC and the AAWU were the precursors of the PAC-12 Conference that will sadly die at the end of this academic year.

Five of the old PCC schools, California, Southern California, Stanford, UCLA and Washington reunited in the Fall of 1959 to form the AAWU.

Eventually, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State rejoined their old mates as the AAWU became the PAC-8 in 1968.

The addition of Arizona and Arizona State in 1978 changed the league's name to PAC-10.

When Colorado and Utah were added to the conference in 2011, the moniker became the PAC-12.

Huskies RB #25 George Fleming

was outstanding in both the

1960 and 1961 Rose Bowls

Fleming was the Co-MVP of the 1960 Rose Bowl with QB Bob Schloredt.

Schloredt, #15 on the left of the photo above, would be named the 1961 Rose Bowl's MVP thus becoming the first player to ever win the Rose Bowl's top individual honor twice.

QB Warren Moon was the

1978 Rose Bowl MVP

That was the first Huskies Rose Bowl that Laurie and I attended. The #13 ranked, 7-4, PAC-8 Champion Huskies were, you guessed it, underdogs. This time the opponent was the #4 ranked, 10-1, Big-10 Champion Michigan Wolverines.

The Huskies had themselves another Rose Bowl upset by beating the Wolverines, 27-20.

I had the time these last few days to pull out and review all of my old souvenir programs from the 18 Huskies bowl games that I've attended over the years.

1978 Rose Bowl: UW 27 - Michigan 20

1981 Rose Bowl: Michigan 23 - UW 6

1982 Rose Bowl: UW 28 - Iowa 0

1991 Rose Bowl: UW 46 - Iowa 34

1992 Rose Bowl: UW 34 - Michigan 14

1993 Rose Bowl: Michigan 38 - UW 31

2001 Rose Bowl: UW 34 - Purdue 24

2019 Rose Bowl: Ohio State 28 - UW 23

Going 5-3 in these eight "Granddaddy of Them All" games has been a solid effort against quality opponents.

1986 Freedom Bowl: UW 20 - Colorado 17

1989 Freedom Bowl: UW 34 - Florida 7

1996 Holiday Bowl: Colorado 33 - UW 21

1999 Holiday Bowl: Kansas State 24 - UW 20

The two trips to Anaheim were good but our first two trips to San Diego were not.

2001 Holiday Bowl: Texas 47 - UW 43

2010 Holiday Bowl: UW 19 - Nebraska 7

2011 Alamo Bowl: Baylor 67 - UW 56

2012 Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State 28 - UW 26

Scoring 56 points in a bowl game and still losing by nine points was surreal.

2013 Fight Hunger Bowl: UW 31 - BYU 16

2019 Las Vegas Bowl: UW 38 - Boise State 7

These two wins in San Francisco and Las Vegas brought the Huskies bowl record in games that I had attended to a respectable 10-8.

Now as for the net these post few days . . .

Many were still reveling in

the Sugar Bowl win . . .

. . . a lot

Yes, he certainly did!

Well deserved

That's why we win

Enough of the gloating. Time to focus on the task in front of the Huskies.

The first of several National Championship

Game posters this week

Simple, the iconic uniforms

and CFP Trophy tell the story

A bit more info on this one

Two good looking helmets highlight

this informative poster

Of course, there were souvenirs for sale on the net too.

Yours for only $40

This one goes for a mere $35

Finally, this sharp looking, framed

poster can be yours for $100

We digress for some good memories . . .

Husky Legendary DT, #90 Steve Emtman

in the 1992 Rose Bowl Game

Husky TE #85 Mark Bruener

celebrating his Third Quarter TD

catch in the 1992 Rose Bowl

The 1992 Rose Bowl win over Michigan, 34-14, secured a share of the 1991 National Championship for the 13-0 Huskies. The 13-0 Miami Hurricanes were also named National Champions in those long ago, pre-CFP days.